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|pronunciation = Old-Gods
|pronunciation = Old-Gods
|origins = [[Old Ceardia]]
|origins = [[Old Ceardia]]
|deities = TBD
|deities = Too many to list
|subsects = TBD
|subsects = Cellik and Velheim variants
|}}
|}}
==Origins==
==Origins==
The origins of the Old Gods religion are somewhat murky, because of intensely conflicting versions. Old Gods as a religion has always lacked an organized hierarchy, and so local communities as well as diasporas do not agree on a common origin tale. While many Regalians consider Old Gods synonymous with the Velheim culture, they actually are not, and there are more Ceardians who worship Old Gods under the Cellik variant than there are Velheim Old Gods worshipers. Old Gods reaches beyond these cultures however, with Zvorun, Tarkkin and Dunbrae all having slight variations on the same ideology. All Old Gods worshipers agree that their faith started on the island of Yervonth (called Jerl in old Velheim) however they all disagree with what happened after. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods however are the two largest denominations controlling around 80% of the total worshiper population, and as such, their version is generally accepted as common dogma. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods doctrine claims that when the menace from the west (Nelfin slavers) arrived on the shores of Ceardia, that a group of Pagan Gods created a pantheon together and spirited large communities away from the Ceardian continent, harboring them in safety on the Yervonth island. From here, Old Gods would continue to spread over the world with migration waves, however the further they went, the more their doctrine was changed by local variations and changes. Unlike Unionism, Old Gods never underwent any major cataclysmic changes or schisms. As such, this page will treat the average understanding of Old Gods as fact, though minor local variations like changing a God's name or patron identity is permissible.  
The origins of the Old Gods [[Religion]] are somewhat murky, because of intensely conflicting versions. Old Gods as a religion has always lacked an organized hierarchy, and so local communities as well as diasporas do not agree on a common origin tale. While many [[Regalians]] consider Old Gods synonymous with the [[Velheim]] [[Culture]], they actually are not, and there are more [[Ceardians]] who worship Old Gods under the Cellik variant than there are Velheim Old Gods worshipers. Old Gods reaches beyond these cultures however, with [[Zvorun]], [[Tarkkin]], and [[Dunbrae]] all having slight variations on the same ideology. All Old Gods worshipers agree that their faith started on the island of [[Yervonth]] (called Jerl in old Velheim) however they all disagree with what happened after. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods however are the two largest denominations controlling around 80% of the total worshiper population, and as such, their version is generally accepted as common dogma. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods doctrine claims that when the menace from the west ([[[Nelfin]] slavers) arrived on the shores of Ceardia, that a group of Pagan Gods created a pantheon together and spirited large communities away from the Ceardian continent, harboring them in safety on the Yervonth island. From here, Old Gods would continue to spread over the world with migration waves, however the further they went, the more their doctrine was changed by local variations and changes. Unlike Unionism, Old Gods never underwent any major cataclysmic changes or schisms. As such, this page will treat the average understanding of Old Gods as fact, though minor local variations like changing a God's name or patron identity is permissible.  


==Core Identity==
==Core Identity==
Old Gods is a religion that developed out of the old concept of Ailor Paganism in Ceardia, which was a polytheistic religion with a theoretical infinite amount of gods. Old Gods as a religion reformed this principle, attaching itself to the tangible gods that the people could see and interact with, and then centralized religion to them. Old Gods as a religion is centered around the concepts of Honor of the Soul, which is similar to Asaredu, but not strictly bound to combat honor alone, rather to the purity of one's soul as understood through the lens of behavior, actions, and things said. Old Gods worshipers refer to the Honor of the Soul as Soldi. It is actually a common misconception to think that Old Gods worshipers refer to their own religion as Old Gods. This is incorrect, because the term Old Gods was used by Unionists to refer to the faith that was largely replaced in the Archipelago by Unionism. Old Gods is actually referred to as Sjelbyrd by Velheimers or Selbarad by Cellik Old Gods worshipers. Because Ailor kind however has so many varied cultures, and because so few of them still worship the Old Gods, the term Old Gods has simply become commonly used, even by Velheimers when they speak Common.
Old Gods is a religion that developed out of the old concept of Ailor Paganism in Ceardia, which was a polytheistic religion with a theoretical infinite amount of gods. Old Gods as a religion reformed this principle, attaching itself to the tangible gods that the people could see and interact with, and then centralized religion to them. Old Gods as a religion is centered around the concepts of Honor of the Soul, which is similar to [[Asaredu]], but not strictly bound to combat honor alone, rather to the purity of one's soul as understood through the lens of behavior, actions, and things said. Old Gods worshipers refer to the Honor of the Soul as Soldi. It is actually a common misconception to think that Old Gods worshipers refer to their own religion as Old Gods. This is incorrect, because the term Old Gods was used by Unionists to refer to the faith that was largely replaced in the Archipelago by Unionism. Old Gods is actually referred to as Sjelbyrd by Velheimers or Selbarad by Cellik Old Gods worshipers. Because Ailor kind however has so many varied cultures, and because so few of them still worship the Old Gods, the term Old Gods has simply become commonly used, even by Velheimers when they speak Common.
===Tenets===
===Tenets===
* '''Bravery:''' Soldi is gained with bravery, to fight against foes that overwhelm and overpower, to seek out challenges that bring glory and honor to one's family name, and to generally not show cowardice. Soldi is lost by showing cowardice and shirking from one's duties. One must always accept challenges, even if they could result in death or infamy. One must always commit to one's decisions.
* '''Bravery:''' Soldi is gained with bravery, to fight against foes that overwhelm and overpower, to seek out challenges that bring glory and honor to one's family name, and to generally not show cowardice. Soldi is lost by showing cowardice and shirking from one's duties. One must always accept challenges, even if they could result in death or infamy. One must always commit to one's decisions.
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===Beliefs===
===Beliefs===
* '''Narrative:''' In Old Gods beliefs, the world is one giant proving grounds for all living things (even wild animals) to prove the value of their soul and prevent loss of Soldi until they die. While all living things are born with Soldi, the effects of evil causes them to commit sins. Sins causing a loss of Soldi are a person's soul showing weakness and thus not having the right to pass into the afterlife. Old Gods dictates that while bodies are made by the gods, and Dragons create a kindling of a soul, that ultimately a soul's development, nurturing, and aging, is entirely up to the person themselves. When a person dies and their soul has enough Soldi they pass into the afterlife or the Valley of Life, which is an idealized version of life with drinking, feasting, and fun. When a person who passes into the Valley of Life also has a hero or legendary status soul through some great achievement or fame in life, they go to the Valley of Legends, which is an upgraded version of this afterlife where their every whim is satisfied. In case a soul is deemed without Soldi, they are condemned to the Mirror world, where the soul wanders for eternity on the salt-flats without color, smell or sound as penance. It is said that some souls have such evil in their hears that they escape the Mirror world, and become Undead in the real world. This is why Old Gods worshipers have such a negative view of Undead who were Old Gods worshipers in a prior life, but are apathetic to Undead from other religions.  
* '''Narrative:''' In Old Gods beliefs, the world is one giant proving grounds for all living things (even wild animals) to prove the value of their soul and prevent loss of Soldi until they die. While all living things are born with Soldi, the effects of evil causes them to commit sins. Sins causing a loss of Soldi are a person's soul showing weakness and thus not having the right to pass into the afterlife. Old Gods dictates that while bodies are made by the gods, and Dragons create a kindling of a soul, that ultimately a soul's development, nurturing, and aging, is entirely up to the person themselves. When a person dies and their soul has enough Soldi they pass into the afterlife or the Valley of Life, which is an idealized version of life with drinking, feasting, and fun. When a person who passes into the Valley of Life also has a hero or legendary status soul through some great achievement or fame in life, they go to the Valley of Legends, which is an upgraded version of this afterlife where their every whim is satisfied. In case a soul is deemed without Soldi, they are condemned to the Mirror world, where the soul wanders for eternity on the salt-flats without color, smell or sound as penance. It is said that some souls have such evil in their hears that they escape the Mirror world, and become Undead in the real world. This is why Old Gods worshipers have such a negative view of Undead who were Old Gods worshipers in a prior life, but are apathetic to Undead from other religions.  
* '''Canon Evil:''' Canon Evil in Old Gods is called Demons, which takes similar origins as Unionism, but has a more flexible interpretation. On one hand, Old Gods worshipers do acknowledge Demons from the Void, Exist, and Bintaar as evil with corrupting intentions. They refer to them as Betrayers, with one particular Demon called The Great Betrayer being the worst, which scholars believe to be the Arken of Power. Demons seduce people into doing things that ruins their Soldi with promises of power, fame and legend. On the other hand, Old Gods worshipers acknowledge the evil in mortals as a far more realistic source of bad things in life. It is said that the Gods and Dragons made a pact, with the Gods making the bodies of Ailor-kind, and the Dragons providing the breath of life, which would create a seedling of a soul. However, as life develops, the person who the soul belongs to creates the expressions, actions and feelings of the soul themselves as it grows over time, and that evil is simply the person being too weak to hold onto virtues in life and engaging in sin. As such, evil can neatly be defined as either Demons inducing weakness in otherwise strong people, or weakness just existing in a soul because the person themselves are weak.  
* '''Canon Evil:''' Canon Evil in Old Gods is called Demons, which takes similar origins as Unionism, but has a more flexible interpretation. On one hand, Old Gods worshipers do acknowledge Demons from the Void, Exist, and [[Bintaar]] as evil with corrupting intentions. They refer to them as Betrayers, with one particular Demon called The Great Betrayer being the worst, which scholars believe to be the Arken of Power. Demons seduce people into doing things that ruins their Soldi with promises of power, fame and legend. On the other hand, Old Gods worshipers acknowledge the evil in mortals as a far more realistic source of bad things in life. It is said that the Gods and Dragons made a pact, with the Gods making the bodies of Ailor-kind, and the Dragons providing the breath of life, which would create a seedling of a soul. However, as life develops, the person who the soul belongs to creates the expressions, actions and feelings of the soul themselves as it grows over time, and that evil is simply the person being too weak to hold onto virtues in life and engaging in sin. As such, evil can neatly be defined as either Demons inducing weakness in otherwise strong people, or weakness just existing in a soul because the person themselves are weak.  
* '''Identity:''' Old Gods dogma has no explicit gender, sex, sexual orientation or gender-identity bias, though it has an implicit male-bias. While any Old Gods worshiper will claim that all genders and sexes are equally fair in their religion, traditional male-coded masculinity takes a unique place that discolors a lot of the nuance about gender. Strong, masculine and emotionless are framed as virtues for men living by the examples of their gods, and so Old Gods society can come across as publicly egalitarian, but having hidden masculine preferences under the surface.  
* '''Identity:''' Old Gods dogma has no explicit gender, sex, sexual orientation or gender-identity bias, though it has an implicit male-bias. While any Old Gods worshiper will claim that all genders and sexes are equally fair in their religion, traditional male-coded masculinity takes a unique place that discolors a lot of the nuance about gender. Strong, masculine and emotionless are framed as virtues for men living by the examples of their gods, and so Old Gods society can come across as publicly egalitarian, but having hidden masculine preferences under the surface.  
* '''Conversion:''' Old Gods as a religion does not require preaching or spreading through missionaries, which is usually a practice reserved for Faith of Estel and Unionism, though to say it is without violent impression is false. Among Old Gods worshipers, holy wars can rage between two distinct populations over small denominational ideals (some as ridiculous as the believed hair color of a god), but bigger conflicts arise with other religions. Old Gods worshipers in general are very intolerant to other religions mostly born out of necessity, because disloyalty to the gods (for example by converting from Old Gods to Unionism) means a complete loss of Soldi and thus a soul being condemned to the Mirror world. Old Gods worshipers have been known to force their faith at the end of a sword and axe, especially in the far north where they are in the majority. Old Gods worshipers also frequently deface religious symbols of other faiths or engage in desecration of holy sites.  
* '''Conversion:''' Old Gods as a religion does not require preaching or spreading through missionaries, which is usually a practice reserved for [[Estellon]] and [[Unionism]], though to say it is without violent impression is false. Among Old Gods worshipers, holy wars can rage between two distinct populations over small denominational ideals (some as ridiculous as the believed hair color of a god), but bigger conflicts arise with other religions. Old Gods worshipers in general are very intolerant to other religions mostly born out of necessity, because disloyalty to the gods (for example by converting from Old Gods to Unionism) means a complete loss of Soldi and thus a soul being condemned to the Mirror world. Old Gods worshipers have been known to force their faith at the end of a sword and axe, especially in the far north where they are in the majority. Old Gods worshipers also frequently deface religious symbols of other faiths or engage in desecration of holy sites.  
* '''Sins & Taboo:''' The worst cases of sinning and taboo for Old Gods are disloyalty to god, family and one's leaders, backstabbing, betrayal, deceit for greed's sake, and refusing a challenge of honor or duel of honor and abiding by cowardice. Never does a single sin or transgression cause Soldi to be lost fully, it is more like a currency that slowly leaks away, however repeat offenses do cause eventual loss of Soldi altogether. Old Gods does not really have a central body of priests to condemn a person, but generally speaking, Old Gods communities have a very communal sense of expelling a member when they believe their Soldi to be too far gone.  
* '''Sins & Taboo:''' The worst cases of sinning and taboo for Old Gods are disloyalty to god, family and one's leaders, backstabbing, betrayal, deceit for greed's sake, and refusing a challenge of honor or duel of honor and abiding by cowardice. Never does a single sin or transgression cause Soldi to be lost fully, it is more like a currency that slowly leaks away, however repeat offenses do cause eventual loss of Soldi altogether. Old Gods does not really have a central body of priests to condemn a person, but generally speaking, Old Gods communities have a very communal sense of expelling a member when they believe their Soldi to be too far gone.  
==Gods and Goddesses==
==Gods and Goddesses==
TBD
Old Gods recognizes one greater entity called Arne, the Tree of Life, from which all Old Gods worshiper believe Ailorkind was born (and by extension, every other living entity on Old Ceardia), though it is somewhat nebulous whether this refers specifically to Old Gods heritage Ailor, or all Ailor of the entire [[Race]]. Old Gods doctrine never made any claims on how the world or reality actually started, but implied that other religions are valid (to a degree) because they refer to the "Old World", where-as the world in which Old Gods exists now is the "New World". Simpler put, Old Gods acknowledges other religions and beliefs that pre-date itself as legitimate within their time-frame, but claims that with the birth of Old Gods, those religions or beliefs became invalid for Ailor, and that Old Gods is the only valid truth. This does mean that Old Gods is a mostly Ailor-centric religion. This causes particular conflict with Unionists. While Old Gods believers claim that the Everwatcher probably is real, they consider the faith false, because it induces its followers to engage in actions that cause them to lose Soldi and be condemned to the Mirror World. Arne supposedly stood in [[Old Ceardia]] for many centuries, until he communed with [[Dragons]] (who are not considered divine, rather just really powerful entities of legend), and developed a voice. With his voice, he spoke to fauna and flora, and with them approaching his roots, his mind expanded. With expansion came his desire to create his own life, and so with each new animal or event around Arne that he became aware of, a new god or goddess was born, creating the traditional pantheon by willing them into existence, which in turn caused them to create the Ailor Race. Arne is not worshiped however, because while he is the Tree of Life, he is seen more as a means to an end, and when all the Gods were born, he went into a lifeless slumber that created the afterlife in his dreams, the Gods and Goddesses instead are worshiped. Arne's physical body is believed to have perished with the [[Destruction of Ceardia]], however this didn't spell disaster, as it is believed that his spirit and dreams (and thus the afterlife) live on even without his physical form.   
===Arne, Father of All===
{|
|[[File:Treeaaaa.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|Arne is a non-humanoid non-physical representation of divinity in Old Gods. In Old Gods doctrine, it is believed that before Ailorkind was born, there was Arne, the tree of Life, that stood in a world that was already alive with plant life and wild life. Old Gods doctrine never made any claims on how the world or reality actually started, but implied that other religions are valid (to a degree) because they refer to the "Old World", where-as the world in which Old Gods exists now is the "New World". Simpler put, Old Gods acknowledges other religions and beliefs that pre-date itself as legitimate within their time-frame, but claims that with the birth of Old Gods, those religions or beliefs became invalid for Ailor, and that Old Gods is the only valid truth. This does mean that Old Gods is a mostly Ailor-centric religion, though more recently Url have also started following the religion (or continued following post-symbiosis). This causes particular conflict with Unionists. While Old Gods believers claim that the Everwatcher probably is real, they consider the faith false, because it induces its followers to engage in actions that cause them to lose Soldi and be condemned to the Mirror World.
 
Arne stood in Old Ceardia for many centuries, until he communed with Dragons (who are not considered divine, rather just really powerful entities of legend), and developed a voice. With his voice, he spoke to fauna and flora, and with them approaching his roots, his mind expanded. With expansion came his desire to create his own life, and so with each new animal or event around Arne that he became aware of, a new god or goddess was born, creating the traditional pantheon by willing them into existence, which in turn caused them to create the Ailor Race. Arne is not worshiped however, because while he is the Tree of Life, he is seen more as a means to an end, and when all the Gods were born, he went into a lifeless slumber that created the afterlife in his dreams. As such, worshiping him is like worshiping the afterlife, which Old Gods worshipers consider strange at best. He is however occasionally still referred to as the father of all the Old Gods pantheon, and the Tree of Life remains an important symbol in Old Gods, even if Arne is nowhere near as important as the Everwatcher in Unionism and is only given lip service. Arne's physical body is believed to have perished with the destruction of Ceardia, however this didn't spell disaster, as it is believed that his spirit and dreams (and thus the afterlife) live on even without his physical form.   
|}
===Bev, Mirror of Life===
===Bev, Mirror of Life===
{|
{|
|[[File:Flying cloth.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Flying cloth.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|Bev is the third son of Arne, and was born when a deer mother died beneath the branches of the Tree of Life, its younglings following her soon after following their abandonment. Bev is depicted as a figure shrouded in a large funeral cloth, the edges engraved with Old Gods runes that glow blue. Bev's face and body are always shrouded in darkness, save for his hands and long sharp nails that are porcelain white, clasping onto the Mirror of Life. Bev is always depicted resting his hands on the edge of the Mirror, holding it up, and thus also representing the afterlife. Bev is considered a softspoken and kind god, but one who always performs the thankless task of sending souls on to the afterlife, judging them for the Valley or the Mirror World.  
|
 
*'''Identity:''' Bev, the third son of Arne, was born when a mother deer and her children died beneath the Tree of Life, confronting it with the necessity of death.
Bev is the God of the dead, the afterlife, judgement, solitude, serenity, and mourning. Bev is the most important to those who care for the dead in the Old Gods religion, as his Song of the Dead is written in Old Gods script on his funeral cloth. It is said that Bev holds up the prison of the Soldi-less dead, the Mirror World, and should he ever let go of the mirror, it will shatter, setting free all the Soldi-less dead and causing a terrible undead cataclysm to occur in Aloria. Bev is the husband of Hel, but always doomed never to hold her in embrace, not only because he must hold up the Mirror, but also because he can never leave the water, and Hel can never enter the water, condemned to dance upon it. There is a subtext implied that Bev intentionally hides away in the water, believing that Hel's anguish for him would cause her to clumsily knock the mirror away and thus initiate the end of the world if she were ever to embrace him.
*'''Themes:''' Bev’s themes are  the afterlife, measure of the soul, solitude, serenity, mourning, and the dead. He is also invoked during burials, and when communing with the dead.
 
*'''Depictions:''' Bev is depicted as a shrouded figure in a large funeral cloth, with only his pale white hands showing of his body, and always holding the Mirror face out.
Bev's shrines are commonly built inside the Helbolwen, or the Crypts of the Old Gods religion. These usually feature a statue in his likeness with a mirror, and hundreds of candles arranged all around him that are perpetually replaced and kept lit to remember the dead. Bev is called upon by the singers of the dead and those who have learned to commune with the dead, asking for his permission to call forth their soul or their essence to speak with. Bev also judges souls both for the dead and the living, and is frequently prayed to for a sign to say if someone's Soldi is damaged or pure. Bev's cult is called the Staargir Cult, which are funerary priests that travel the land and are blinded either by removal of the eyes or by blindfold, who are rumored to be able to see dead souls wander the world in their blindness. The Staargir enter Helbolwen where outbreaks of violent Undead terrorize the locals (as the living may not enter the inner Helbolwen), purging the Undead and forcing them back into their crypts.  
*'''Worship:''' Bev is worshiped specifically by the Staargir, blind-folded singers of the dead, but also by offering food and candles to Bev shrines in Helbolwen.
*'''Manifestation:''' Bev does not manifest in the living world, only serving to hold the Mirrror and pass souls into the afterlife, which he must do without fail and reprieve.
*'''Individual:''' Bev does not manifest to individuals or groups at all, as he is only ‘met’ when someone’s soul is passing on for judgement. He is rumored to have made the Vaarda Gates however.
*'''Worship House:''' Bev is worshipped in Old Gods Crypts, or Helbolwen, where a statue in his likeness with a mirror is kept. These mirrors reflect hundreds of lit candles, to represent the dead.
*'''Relations:''' Bev is the husband of Hel, doomed to never embrace, as he cannot leave the water, and she cannot enter it. He is also tasked to hold up the Mirror, which Hel would destroy.
*'''Other Notes:''' It is believed that if Bev should ever drop the Mirror, it will shatter, and release the Soldi-less dead who reside within it, causing a terrible undead cataclysm to occur.
|}
|}
===Hel, Dancer of Death===
===Hel, Dancer of Death===
{|
{|
|[[File:Flying clothfyhgsb'.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Flying clothfyhgsb'.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|Hel is the first daughter of Arne, and was born when the river banks around the Tree of Life flooded and touched the bark of its base, washing higher and higher and pushing all manner of animals up into the cracks to escape the flow. Hel is depicted as a lithe woman with all manner of facial tattoos and a body or dress made out of ocean waves, in a constant state of torrent and flow. She herself dances with fluid movements like the washing of waves on a beach shore, directing the flow of oceans. She is considered cruel and whimsical, bringing forth good waves and calm oceans or terrible typhoons and unending rainfall that chokes out the crops. Hel is the wife of Bev, however they are destined to forever be apart, with Hel only ever able to dance on the surface of the water, and Bev living beneath the surface of the water, only ever able to see each other and never touch.  
|
 
*'''Identity:''' Hel is the first daughter of Arne, who was born when the river flooded the Tree of Life and touched its bark, thus familiarizing it with large amounts of water.
Hel is the goddess of protection from the waves, first prayed to for a safe journey by sailors, and a safe return of loved ones for those left behind on the shores. Hel's fury or misery can be felt in the waves crashing on the coast. As such, she is sometimes also seen as the goddess of misery, unrequited love, and abandonment. She is generally seen as not necessarily malicious, but having an anguish and loneliness that can never be answered, causing her to inflict said grief and misery on other married couples by taking sailors into the deeps as she dances in the typhoons.  
*'''Themes:''' Hel’s themes are water, the ocean, protection from the waves, misery, unrequited love, and abandonment. She is intensely linked with Bev due to their relation.
*'''Depictions:''' Hel is a lithe woman with many tattoos and a body or dress made of the torrential waves. Her anguish and loneliness cause her to be cruel and whimsical.
*'''Worship:''' Hel is worshiped only by those who go off to sea, or know someone who is going off to sea, praying for their safe travel and return by dancing and offering her company and song.  
*'''Manifestation:''' It is believed that every great typhoon, hurricane, tsunami, and waterspout, is Hel's manifestation, and that each of them are her physical presence.
*'''Individual:''' Hel has not touched anyone individually per se, rather she has supposedly caused the deaths of thousands of sailors, dragged to an early grave under the ocean.
*'''Worship House:''' Hel’s shrines are built on cliff sides near oceans, her cult is called the Sea-Dancers, water mages who ‘dance’ with their magic on ships to protect them from her wrath.
*'''Relations:''' Hel is the wife of Bev, but she cannot touch or be with him, as he resides below the ocean, and she can only dance on the surface of it: the source of her anguish.
*'''Other Notes:''' Hel is considered the goddess who takes lives, and knows when all Old Gods worshippers will die. This is mostly why Hel is feared rather than admired.
|}


Hel's shrines are always built on the cliffsides overlooking rough oceans, the more gloom and dangerous the better. Worship to Hel is far less material, that is to say, she is not given physical offerings, but company and performance. It is common for those wishing for a safe return of their loved ones at sea to do the sea-dance in front of Hel shrines, or to sing the song of the wayward lover, a melancholic song aching for the return of a loved one and begging Hel not to inflict her anguish onto them. In terms of life and death, Hel is considered the goddess who takes lives, and divines the fate of all Old Gods worshipers, to know when it is their time to die and send their souls to Bev. Hel's cult is called the Sea-dancers, which are all exclusively water Mages who join on large fleets, trying to contain the anger of Hel during great storms at sea to protect ships by dancing to her while bending Magic to keep water off the decks.
|}
===Adal, Prince of Forgiving===
===Adal, Prince of Forgiving===
{|
{|
|[[File:Treetyujgrf.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Treetyujgrf.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|Adal is the son of Bard, and was born when Bard's anger and rage caused a thunderstorm so severe that the lightning cut two branches off the Tree of Life. Adal is always depicted as an athletic male with dreads, glowing Velheim tattoos and dismembered arms, the stumps cauterized with gold, and the arms replaced with lightning. Adal is said to be forgiving and merciful, one who is frequently found to act as enforcer of laws or police among the Gods and their petty squabbles. While Adal acts as law-keeper, his forgiving and conceding attitude means he usually ends up solving nothing because he never puts his foot down. His cut off arms replaced with lightning are sometimes an analogy for the Tree of Life's ruptured branches, but is sometimes also an analogy for Bard having cut off his arms in a rage.  
|
 
*'''Identity:''' Adal is the son of Bard, who was born when Bard’s anger caused a thunderstorm that cut two branches off the Tree of Life, familiarizing it with pain.
Adal is the god of giving aid and help, conceding, forgiving, holding no grudges and calmness of mind, an ironic thematic contrast to his lightning powers. He is the lord over thunder and controls the great lightning storms around the world. Adal is the twin brother of Odal, who he feels eternally remorseful for. Adal is on an eternal search of Odal to try and convince him to return to the pantheon proper in harmony with the other gods, but he always ends up conceding to Odal when they do meet, and no change occurs. Adal is both a god that encourages the Old Gods worshipers to kindness, while also warning them that forgiveness (while a virtue) does not help anyone if practiced all the time.  
*'''Themes:''' Adal’s themes are giving aid and help, enforcement of laws, conceding, forgiveness, holding no grudges, and also of the lightning and thunder of the world.
 
*'''Depictions:''' Adal is usually depicted as a male with glowing golden tattoos and dismembered arms, the tips covered in gold, and replaced with lightning.  
Adal's shrines are usually built high on mountains with lighting rods of copper where they can conduct the lightning down to the altar. The altar is usually filled with bottles with Celectic gas, a substance that is able to store electricity in a visual form inside the bottle for extended periods of time before seeping away. Worship to Adal isn't traditionally done on a day to day basis, but usually with a purpose. Pilgrims visit his shrine either to ask for the god's blessing and to help them forgive someone who they want to forgive but cannot. Alternatively, those who want to be forgiven also pray to him, hoping that Adal will soften the hearts of those that were wronged. Adal's cult is the Arrows of the Sky Cult, which dresses in very bright yellow robes and travels the world attempting to offer advice and moral support to those seeking repentance.  
*'''Worship:''' Adal is not worshiped on a day to day basis, but by Pilgrims who wish to forgive someone, but cannot find the strength to do so, traveling to his Temple.
*'''Manifestation:''' It is believed that every thunder strike is an expression of approval by Adal, which is why Old Gods worshipers sometimes ask things of Thunderstorms.
*'''Individual:''' Adal is not known to have made a personal presentation in front of anyone, because his manifestations are mostly in the elemental realm.
*'''Worship House:''' Adal’s shrines are built high atop mountains, where lightning may strike them, and where bottles of Celectic gas store electricity in visible form.
*'''Relations:''' Adal is the twin brother of Odal, who he feels responsible for, eternally on a quest to convince Odal to return to the pantheon, but eternally failing.
*'''Other Notes:''' It is said Adal’s arms were cut off by Bard, who had gone into a rage, though this is dubious, because many also claim he was born without arms.
|}
|}
===Odal, Prince of Vengeance===
===Odal, Prince of Vengeance===
{|
{|
|[[File:Treetyujgrfhgdfh.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Treetyujgrfhgdfh.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|Odal is the son of Bard and the twin of Adal, born when Bard's anger and rage caused a thunderstorm so severe that the lightning cut two branches off the Tree of Life, which then fell down on the ground and crushed a family of hedgehogs. Odal is always depicted as a corrupted god with blackened skin and blue discoloration, large claw-like hands, horns, and a fractured chest from which blue lightning leaks. This is because Odal is a corrupted god who despite his allegiance with the Great Betrayer, is still seen as a god, as he still acts for the wellbeing of the Old Gods worshipers so long as they align with him. Odal is imposing and very broad, believed to be the only god capable of challenging Bard and winning in combat. How Odal became corrupted varied drastically from community to community, but it usually revolves around anger and spite at the other gods for inaction.
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*'''Identity:''' Odal is the son of Bard, born when Bard’s anger caused a thunderstorm that cut branches off of the Tree of Life, crushed a family of hedgehogs below.
Odal is the god is revenge, of overcoming, of conquest, of Magic, and of indominable spirit. He is also a lord of thunder, but his control of thunder is chaotic and uncontrollable. Where his heart would have been is a hole in his chest, from which chaotic lightning erupts. Odal's presence is felt in the pyroclastic flows of volcanos, and the storms that erupt from volcanos, chaotic and uncontrollable, in contrast to Adal's controlled storms. Odal frequently clashes with Bard as Bard has expelled him from the pantheon, but Odal seeks to overcome expulsion and pariah status and force his way back in, which in traditional folklore he usually succeeds in. Odal is also believed to be the source of Magic, which is seen as both a curse and a blessing. It is a blessing by Odal's gift to the individual, but a curse because it also condemns them with a life-long struggle against the sin of weakness, Old Gods worshipers believing that Magic users are not sinful because they are Mages, but can quickly become sinful because their Magic causes their soul to be weak to their vices and cocky.  
*'''Themes:''' Odal’s themes are revenge, overcoming, conquest, magic, corruption, and the indomitable spirit. Odal is sometimes considered good, sometimes evil.
 
*'''Depictions:''' Odal is a corrupted god, in allegiance to the Great Betrayer (who corrupted him), he still acts in favor of the Old Gods worshippers who align with him.
Odal's shrines are, surprisingly, left intact by Old Gods worshipers, mostly because they believe Odal will also enact revenge on those who destroy his shrines, as his power allows him to call misfortune on those who have dismayed him. Worship to Odal is mostly done through the offering of hunted animal carcasses being burned on his shrine, as an offering to pray for him not to bring misery to a person's life, but also to convince him not to bless one's enemies with success in their revenge. An Old Gods worshiper who is pushed to the limits of what they can take sometimes accepts the blessings of Odal and essentially becomes a Demonically possessed avatar of vengeance. If they succeed, their Soldi is cleansed and Odal gives them vengeance, if they fail, their instantly lose all Soldi and are banished to the Mirror world, implying Odal kills them. Odal has a cult called Odal's Avengers, who full-body paint themselves like Odal and are revenge-seekers for hire, selling their martial services to those who are too weak to take revenge on their wrongdoers themselves. These cultists, including those who have surrendered to Odal's demons are called Odalv.
*'''Worship:''' Odal worship is offering him food and goods in a ritual fire to stave off his vengeance. Odal’s Avengers is a cult of for-hire revenge seekers, called Odalv.
*'''Manifestation:''' Odal has been known to personally manifest, particularly to protect the respect and honor of the Great Betrayer, when Old Gods worshipers defile him.
*'''Individual:''' Odal has countless of individual encounters with Old Gods worshipers, instilling a fear in them not to speak of the Great Betrayer in bad ways.
*'''Worship House:''' Odal has lingering shrines decorated with blue-painted horns, but only because people are afraid he’d destroy them if they destroyed his shrines.  
*'''Relations:''' Odal is the twin brother of Adal, and is constantly fighting Bard to force his way back into the pantheon, It is said only he can challenge Bard.
*'''Other Notes:''' It is not known how Odal became corrupted, but is thought to be because of his anger at the inaction of the Old Gods, letting the Great Betrayer do it.
*'''Other Notes:''' Rarely, will Olds Gods' worshippers feel pushed enough to accept his ‘blessing,and become a demonically possessed avatar of vengeance, called Odalv.  
*'''Other Notes:''' If they succeed their Odalv Quest, their Soldi is cleansed and they are restored, if they fail, he kills them and they are sent to the Mirror world.
|}
|}
===Bard, King of Bears===
===Bard, King of Bears===
{|
{|
|[[File:Treeagdsgsgjdjf.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Treeagdsgsgjdjf.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|Bard is the first son of Arne, and was born when bears took shelter under the tree of life. Bard is always depicted as a large rugged man, covered in bear or wolf-pelts, with brown hair, plenty of facial and body hair, and black charcoal washed out around his eyes emulating the claw marks of a bear. Bard is the husband of Njal, and is often said to have a raging temper and a beastly countenance that makes him lose all semblance of humanity when he is beset by fits of rage. Bard is said to be uncontrollable by the other gods, dispensing punishment and retribution on mortals for failing in the eyes of the gods, a practice which has earned him the moniker "Guardian of the gods", because he is indeed the first into battle.  
|
*'''Identity:''' Bard is the first son of Arne, and was born when bears rested under the Tree of Life. Bard is considered pivotal in the Pantheon due to his relations.
*'''Themes:''' Bard’s themes are battle, rage, strength, endurance, stability, power, solitude, and being the ‘guardian of the gods.’ He is said to be strongest of all.
*'''Depictions:''' Bard is always depicted as a large rugged man, covered in animal pelts, with charcoal around his eyes emulating bear claws and broad stance.
*'''Worship:''' Bard is worshiped before, after, and sometimes during battle. His cult, Bard’s Bears, was partially eradicated in the Carrhen War by the Regalian Empire.
*'''Manifestation:''' Bard has been known to manifest as a giant in front of those who committed high treason to the Old Gods, cursing them with the Marken Affliction.
*'''Individual:''' Bard exclusively visits individuals, but only on rare occasions, because one knows they have really messed up if it requires Bard to show up.
*'''Worship House:''' Bard’s shrines are large stone steles with inscriptions and bones, or stone tables with bowls on them. Animal carcasses are offered as sacrifice.
*'''Relations:''' Bard is the husband of Njal, but was originally a loner. His temperament was soothed by Njal, who found him, calmed him, and they became spouses.
*'''Other Notes:''' Despite Bard's Bears being eradicated in Carrhen, a small branch of them is yet alive in Talahm Gall, a rugged province of Gallovia.
*'''Other Notes:''' Bard’s fits of rage are legendary, and uncontrollable, losing all semblance of humanity during them, except for Njal's artistic touch.
|}


Bard is the god of battle, strength, rage, endurance, stability, power and solitude. In Old Gods lore, he roams the land seeking battle from legendary beasts and gods of other religions, but has a broken heart of loneliness that he cannot mend because he is too proud to admit his desire for companionship. It is here that Njal found him, and was the only one who could break his beastly demeanor, soothe his rage, and calm his temper when it erupted. As such, Bard and Njal are now considered spouses, and are frequently framed together as the Union of Air. Bard worship is done through prayers to his name before and after battle, or to invoke his name for strength and rage during battle.
Bard's shrines are usually large stone steles with runic inscriptions surrounded by animal bones, or large stone tables with all manner of beast pelts strung over it. On this table or in front of this stele are usually bowls in which offerings of the hunt are brought in his name, which can also be a piece of cloth or hair from a slain foe, which is then ritually burned. Bard has a cult of worshiper's called Bard's Wolves, though the Ceardian branch was recently eradicated in the Carrhen War by the Regalian Empire, with the Northern variant mostly in hiding in Talahm Gall.
|}
===Njal, Prince of Art===
===Njal, Prince of Art===
{|
{|
|[[File:Treeagdsgs.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Treeagdsgs.png|220px|thumb|left]]
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Njal is the second son of Arne, and was born when birds sang their songs among the branches of the Tree of Life. Njal is always depicted as a very handsome young man with fine and expensive linens wrapped around an otherwise seductive body, with strawberry blonde hair and minimal facial hair. Njal is also traditionally depicted with heterochromia, one light-blue eye and one light-brown eye with which it is said he always keeps an eye on Bard, who has dark brown eyes. Njal is said to be eloquent and calming, a soothing presence that mediates and forms compromise between the gods when they fight. It is said that Njal provides divine inspiration, hidden as a robed stranger giving gentle hints to steer maestros into the right direction for a masterpiece.
*'''Identity:''' Njal is the second son of Arne, and was born when birds sang perched on the branches of the Tree of Life, seeing beauty for the first time.
 
*'''Themes:''' Njal’s themes are creativity, art, fertility, compromise, male beauty, silver tongue, and protection from godly cruelty and care for mortals.
Njal is the god of creativity, art, fertility, compromise, male beauty, and silver tongues. In Old Gods lore, he roams the land seeking the perfect piece of art whether it be a painting, statue or music, but never finding it, until he found Bard one day, and discovered that the perfect piece of art was not a thing, but the virility of man. Njal ensnared Bard with poetry, and ever since is depicted as Bard's spouse that calms his worst urges and turns him into a loving partner that transitions his anger into a desire for protection and preservation. As such, Njal is seen as a necessary deterrent of godly abuse of mortals also, and one who protects them from godly cruelty.
*'''Depictions:''' Njal is a handsome young man wearing expensive clothes, with an air of arrogance and calmness in his demeanor and stance.
 
*'''Worship:''' Worship is done by saying a prayer, and then giving gifts to any artist. His cult is Njal’s Harps, who host debauched feasts and parties.
Njal's shrines are usually mobile, meaning that they are carts or special harnesses that people have developed to strap onto themselves or move around. The idea is that Njal never sits still and must roam the land to see and experience more, and so his shrines should never stay in one place either, but rather see places. The act of worship to Njal is to say a prayer to his name, and then donate an alms or some sort of gift to an artist (even if the artist is not an Old Gods believer). This has resulted in Old Gods artists using a donation pot as a Njal shrine, and so when a Unionist tips them, they actually bring a prayer to Njal. Njal's cult is called Njal's Harps, who are known to reside in some of the major cities of Drixagh, hosting debauched feasts and parties with plenty of drinking and passionate exchanges.  
*'''Manifestation:''' Njal is said to permanently dwell among mortals, because creativity is a gift of the people, not of Gods, and he wishes to see art.
*'''Individual:''' Njal's has not been seen for thousands of years, though was very active before this point, no one knows exactly why.
*'''Worship House:''' Njal’s shrines are always mobile, in carts or on harnesses so people can carry them, as Njal never sits still and roams the land.
*'''Relations:''' Njal once roamed to find the perfect art. Then he met bard, and realized the perfect art was man. They soon fell in love and married.
*'''Other Notes:''' Njal always has heterochromia, one light blue eye and one light brown, which he uses to always watch Bard, who has dark brown eyes.
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|[[File:Treesgfsd'dgsgs.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Treesgfsd'dgsgs.png|220px|thumb|left]]
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Gro is the last daughter of Arne, and was born when the Dragons spoke of the Nelfin in the far west to the tree, who then dreamt of living flesh. Gro is depicted as a female head with hair made of calcified bone, her body surrounded by calcified shapes of flesh that appear to undulate and swirl, with blood-colored and bone-colored streaks. Despite her theoretically grotesque appearance, the shapes of the bone and flesh matter is always arranged in such a way that she appears more like a clam with smooth spikes on the outside, her head set as a pearl inside. Gro is the wife of Jord, forming the Union of Life together, two gods who remain universally the most controversial entities in the Old Gods religion.
*'''Identity:''' Gro is the last daughter of Arne, and was born when Dragons spoke of the Nelfin, and the Tree of Life dreamt of flesh.
*'''Themes:''' Gro’s themes are largely lost, but she supposedly begged the Dragons to breathe life into the her meat dolls, creating the Ailor.
*'''Depictions:''' Gro's depiction has mostly been lost to time, but it is assumed she was an amalgam of blood and flesh.  
*'''Worship:''' Gro is considered a lost god, but when she was worshipped, she played an active role in the lives of Ailor, which other Old Gods did not and did not allow.
*'''Manifestation:''' Gro supposedly helped mortals with even simple day to day tasks, making their lives easier and more comfortable, this was her hubris.
*'''Individual:''' Gro has not been seen since she was expelled from the Pantheon thousands of years ago, and nobody has really gone looking for her either.
*'''Worship House:''' Gro has no known worship houses, though the concept of Gro shrines has been debated as of recent due to finding Sunnan Velheim worshiping her.  
*'''Relations:''' Gro is the wife of Jord, both bargained with the Great Betrayer (which they were expelled for), forcing the Velheim people in millennia of hell, but saving them from slavery.
*'''Other Notes:''' The memory of Gro and Jord is said to have faded when the Old Gods worshippers broke free from the Great Betrayer, called the 'Liberation'.
|}


Gro and Jord are not worshiped anymore, and as such do not stand for anything. Most of the folklore concerning their identity and their roles in the Old Gods faith were lost, with information of them intentionally suppressed after an event referred to as the Liberation by Old Gods worshipers who do still have the telling of their betrayal. Very small pockets of Old Gods worshipers far removed from Velheim and Ceardian influences still worship Gro and Jord, like the Sunnan Velheim who ventured south and settled into the jungles close to Sendras, but have otherwise been out of contact with the rest of the world until very recently. It is said that Gro and Jord created Ailorkind from their bodies, and then begged the Dragons to breathe the breath of souls on them, which they obliged. Gro and Jord treated Ailorkind as their children and were loving and kind.
The Pantheon however demanded a very absent role in their worshiper's lives, and while Gro and Jord were popular, the other Gods in the pantheon did not permit them to interfere with the lives of the small people they had made. When Nelfin slavers appeared on proto-Velheim shores, the faithful were enslaved in the tens of thousands, and equal numbers died from warfare by the magically superior Nelfin. The Gods had agreed in conclave only to act in small doses, which never pleased Gro and Jord as it would not stave off a final demise of their people. Gro and Jord thus went in secret to the Great Betrayer, the King of Demons to the Old Gods worshipers, and struck a deal that condemned all Old Gods worshipers and the souls of their descendants to belong both to the Old Gods and the Great Betrayer. The Great Betrayer supposedly saved them from the Nelfin, but imprisoned them in 1000 years of hell. The other Old Gods expelled Gro and Jord, condemning them to wander the world where memory of them eventually faded after the Old Gods worshipers broke free from the Great Betrayer after a thousand years trapped, also condemning Gro and Jord for their betrayal.
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===Jord, Forger of Metal===
===Jord, Forger of Metal===
{|
{|
|[[File:Treesgfsd'.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Treesgfsd'.png|220px|thumb|left]]
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Jord is the last son of Arne, and was born when the roots of the Tree of Life touched metal ores in the ground, something the Tree could not crush or bend. Jord is depicted as a male with a body made out of sheets of metal, bent and straightened around parts of the body, and elongated arms with ball-joints, all made of a dark gray-blue metal with light blue lines. Jord's body is depicted with unsettling proportions, usually an exceedingly thin torso and excessively tall legs and arms. Jord is the husband of Gro, forming the Union of Life together, two gods who remain universally the most controversial entities in the Old Gods religion. While most traces of Gro have disappeared, Jord's last sighting was on the small island of Mirnoye, the island made of metal, which can only be reached once a year, though houses unfriendly locals and seemingly abandoned temples.  
*'''Identity:''' Jord is the last son of Arne, and was born when the roots of the Tree of Life touched metal ores in the ground, which it could not crush or bend.
 
*'''Themes:''' Jord is no longer worshiped as he is considered a lost god for dealing with the Great Betrayer. Only small groups still worship him.
Gro and Jord are not worshiped anymore, and as such do not stand for anything. Most of the folklore concerning their identity and their roles in the Old Gods faith were lost, with information of them intentionally suppressed after an event referred to as the Liberation by Old Gods worshipers who do still have the telling of their betrayal. Very small pockets of Old Gods worshipers far removed from Velheim and Ceardian influences still worship Gro and Jord, like the Sunnan Velheim who ventured south and settled into the jungles close to Sendras, but have otherwise been out of contact with the rest of the world until very recently. It is said that Gro and Jord created Ailorkind from their bodies, and then begged the Dragons to breathe the breath of souls on them, which they obliged. Gro and Jord treated Ailorkind as their children and were loving and kind.
*'''Depictions:''' Jord is depicted as a male with a body made of metal, bent and straightened around his body, and long arms with ball joints, made of dark blue metal.
 
*'''Worship:''' Jord is no longer worshiped, when he was, he played an active role in the lives of Ailor, which other Old Gods did not and did not allow.
The Pantheon however demanded a very absent role in their worshiper's lives, and while Gro and Jord were popular, the other Gods in the pantheon did not permit them to interfere with the lives of the small people they had made. When Nelfin slavers appeared on proto-Velheim shores, the faithful were enslaved in the tens of thousands, and equal numbers died from warfare by the magically superior Nelfin. The Gods had agreed in conclave only to act in small doses, which never pleased Gro and Jord as it would not stave off a final demise of their people. Gro and Jord thus went in secret to the Great Betrayer, the King of Demons to the Old Gods worshipers, and struck a deal that condemned all Old Gods worshipers and the souls of their descendants to belong both to the Old Gods and the Great Betrayer. The Great Betrayer supposedly saved them from the Nelfin, but imprisoned them in 1000 years of hell. The other Old Gods expelled Gro and Jord, condemning them to wander the world where memory of them eventually faded after the Old Gods worshipers broke free from the Great Betrayer after a thousand years trapped, also condemning Gro and Jord for their betrayal.  
*'''Manifestation:''' Jord supposedly helped mortals with even simple day to day tasks, making their lives easier and more comfortable, this was his hubris.
*'''Individual:''' Jord has not been seen since he was expelled from the Pantheon thousands of years ago, and nobody has really gone looking for him either.
*'''Worship House:''' Jord has no worship houses, but was last rumored to be seen on the isle of Barratt, which is surrounded by a terrible maelstrom.
*'''Relations:''' Jord is the husband of Gro, both bargained with the Great Betrayer, forcing the Velheim people in millennia of hell, but saving them from slavery.
*'''Other Notes:''' The memory of Jord and Gro is said to have faded when the Old Gods worshippers broke free from the Great Betrayer, called the 'Liberation'.
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===Halfvel, the Father of Demigods===
===Halfvel, the Father of Demigods===
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*'''Individual:''' There was once a Temple in Old Ceardia which supposedly housed Halfvel nearly all year round, however this place has not been visited since the destruction of Ceardia.
*'''Individual:''' There was once a Temple in Old Ceardia which supposedly housed Halfvel nearly all year round, however this place has not been visited since the destruction of Ceardia.
*'''Worship House:''' Halfvel does not have any official Temples, however shrines dedicated to him are a wolf skull rested on several black wolf pelts, coins of gold inserted into its mouth for well wishes.
*'''Worship House:''' Halfvel does not have any official Temples, however shrines dedicated to him are a wolf skull rested on several black wolf pelts, coins of gold inserted into its mouth for well wishes.
*'''Relations:''' Halfvel has no formal relations with the Pantheon, as he largely avoids them altogether, concerning himself more with creating the fates in the mortal world.
*'''Other Notes:''' Halfvel's Demigod children supposedly have icy-blue eye-color, a high rarity among Ailor. Halfvel turns an unborn child or conceives each Demigod for a specific fate, some bad, some good.
*'''Other Notes:''' Halfvel's Demigod children supposedly have icy-blue eye-color, a high rarity among Ailor. Halfvel turns an unborn child or conceives each Demigod for a specific fate, some bad, some good.
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*'''Individual:''' Asbjørn only ever helps individuals, but he seems quite jovial for someone who is being cursed, some speculate that he is actually quite devious, and was cursed on purpose.
*'''Individual:''' Asbjørn only ever helps individuals, but he seems quite jovial for someone who is being cursed, some speculate that he is actually quite devious, and was cursed on purpose.
*'''Worship House:''' Asbjørn's largest and most important Temple is the Ice-Crag Hall in Hedryll, a temple where docile polar bears roam, though it has recently fallen in disrepair by Vampires.
*'''Worship House:''' Asbjørn's largest and most important Temple is the Ice-Crag Hall in Hedryll, a temple where docile polar bears roam, though it has recently fallen in disrepair by Vampires.
*'''Relations:''' Asbjørn is said to be madly cursed and in love with Bard, but this has been pulled into question recently because none of the other folklore supports this sentiment.
*'''Other Notes:''' Asbjørn is sometimes somewhat dubiously treated because it unclear if he genuinely wants to help those seeking restitution through punishment, or is just using them to get to Bard.
*'''Other Notes:''' Asbjørn is sometimes somewhat dubiously treated because it unclear if he genuinely wants to help those seeking restitution through punishment, or is just using them to get to Bard.
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|[[File:Spingguy.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Spingguy.png|220px|thumb|left]]
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TBD
*'''Identity:''' Frode, nicknamed Carer of Spring, was born when the early dew of spring first slipped down the leaves of the Tree of Life, creating the seasonal change in Old Ceardia.
*'''Themes:''' Frode's themes are Spring, rebirth, sweetness, insects and plants, flowers, sweet smells and cold colors, the sounds of life, and teeming flora in the forests.
*'''Depictions:''' Frode is always depicted as if gliding on the green light of nature in spring, anytime they touch grass, causing the most wildest of floral arrangements to bloom.
*'''Worship:''' Worship to Frode is done near or around a Tree, woven and decorated to mimic the Tree of Life, usually in a park, and by engaging in social happenings around that tree.
*'''Manifestation:''' Frode has manifested a couple of times through history to save important groves of the Old Gods people, but in general seems more skittish than the other Gods.
*'''Individual:''' Frode is said to hate being regarded, and as such, most encounters were supposedly more of their smell (a distinct cut-grass and honey mix) than their actual face.
*'''Worship House:''' Frode has no real worship house, but Old Gods worshipers often build Frode circles in the forest, which are patches of grass with stones arranged in circles.
*'''Relations:''' Frode is the twin sibling of Toke, and the two are said to dance in the forests, cycling between Spring and Autumn, until Leif burns in Summer and Asbjørn freezes in winter.
*'''Other Notes:''' Frode is why Old Gods worshipers have a positive relation to Yanar, and can often connect quite well with the Estellon worshipers in Yanar inhabited regions in Regalia.
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===Toke, Lirh of Autumn===
===Toke, Lirh of Autumn===
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|[[File:Treeghvfjgfdhgfm.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Treeghvfjgfdhgfm.png|220px|thumb|left]]
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TBD
*'''Identity:''' Toke, nicknamed Lirh of Autumn, was born when the leaves on the Tree of Life faded to red and brown, creating the seasonal autumn that swept Old Ceardia.
*'''Themes:''' Toke's themes are Autumn, the world slowing down, taking care of yourself and loved ones, caring for one's own mental health, warm colors, and fauna itself.
*'''Depictions:''' Toke is always depicted as if dancing, reminiscing a leaf falling from an autumnal tree, conspicuous feline ears in their hair and a mischievous smile. 
*'''Worship:''' Toke Worship is done by hosting seasonal feasts, particularly those in which Old Gods worshipers dress up as animals and try to prank and trick each other.
*'''Manifestation:''' Toke's manifestations were often to protect wildlife from extinction, miraculously saving a few viable pairs in a valley to protect them.
*'''Individual:''' Toke has not ever been known to enjoy being regarded by mortals. As such, their ears or fox-tail is seen more often than Toke themselves fully.
*'''Worship House:''' Toke has no real Temples or shrines, but supposedly lives together with Frode in the Frode circles in the forest, as animals are eventually drawn to them.
*'''Relations:''' Toke is the twin sibling of Frode, and the two are said to dance in the forests, cycling between Spring and Autumn, until Leif burns in Summer and Asbjørn freezes in winter.
*'''Other Notes:''' Toke is why, even when killing wildlife for the hunt or sacrifice, Old Gods are always respectful, and will say a prayer for Toke to receive the animal's soul.
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===Leif, Summer of Passion===
===Leif, Summer of Passion===
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|[[File:Firedude.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Firedude.png|220px|thumb|left]]
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TBD
*'''Identity:''' Leif, Summer of Passion, was born when the Tree of Life first experienced the love between Bard and Njall, and a fire erupted on some of its branches.
*'''Themes:''' Leif's themes are passion, fire, burning feelings, expressions of love and willpower, never giving up, divine inspiration, and offspring specifically.
*'''Depictions:''' Leif is always depicted with some part of his hair on fire or spitting flames, his hands covered in glowing golden light for the wealth he brings.
*'''Worship:''' Worship to Leif is performed by bringing offerings of rare earth metals to open flames, and dancing with or inhaling the smoke.
*'''Manifestation:''' Leif has not known to manifest himself, though it is said that a part of him lives in each and every flame, and that he always listens.
*'''Individual:''' Leif's individual relation to mortals, is that he supposedly inspires and enflames their emotions, with love itself being inspired and fated by him.
*'''Worship House:''' Leif's largest Temple is the flame-spire in Billund, Regalian Archipelago, a large and steep peak mountain which near permanently fumes smoke.
*'''Relations:''' Leif is the husband of Estrid, though they are more than that, the folklore specifically defines them as soul mates with a fated connection.
*'''Other Notes:''' Leif is claimed to have a particular burning hatred for those who discriminate based on gender, supposedly spontaneously immolating terrible offenders.
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===Estrid, Queen of Battle===
===Estrid, Queen of War===
TBD
{|
|[[File:Treeghvfjgfbattlebnniot.png|220px|thumb|left]]
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*'''Identity:''' Estrid, Queen of War, was born when the Tree of Life's branches caught fire in Leif's birth, which she then doused by absorbing them and funneling them to war.
*'''Themes:''' Estrid's themes are similar to Bard's but differ slightly in that she specifically concerns herself with War, conquest of other lands, ferocity and challenge.
*'''Depictions:''' Estrid is always depicted in her typical "Gothik" style, dark hair and intense darkened eyes, dark clothing and pale skin, with lots of accessories.
*'''Worship:''' Estrid worship is usually performed before armies face each other on the field, known as the 'high hour', 3 hours before the battle, when Old Gods armies are weakest.
*'''Manifestation:''' Estrid has appeared at every major pivotal battle the Old Gods worshipers had to face in their expansion, but stopped appearing one day, for no-one knows why.
*'''Individual:''' Estrid never had any individual appeal, rather keeping expansion for the Velheim people, and by extension, Old Gods open, until she ceased.
*'''Worship House:''' Estrid has the most amount of Temples across the world, each of them called a Temple of Fire, in which a massive bonfire is lit around the clock.
*'''Relations:''' Estrid is the wife of Leif, though they are more than that, the folklore specifically defines them as soul mates with a fated connection.
*'''Other Notes:''' Estrid is sometimes blamed for the reversal of Velheim expansion in the world, coinciding with the quick rise of the Regalian Empire.
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===Hagen, Crafter of Time===
===Hagen, Crafter of Time===
{|
{|
|[[File:Olderguyt.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|[[File:Olderguyt.png|220px|thumb|left]]
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*'''Identity:''' Hagen, Crafter of Time, was born when the Tree of Life remembered history and all events that had gone before, creating wisdom and knowledge for the ages.
*'''Themes:''' Hagen's themes are wisdom, sagely advise, dogma, staying true to rules and laws, obeying precedence and the elderly, and ancestry and heritage.
*'''Depictions:''' Hagen looks relatively normal in comparison to all the other gods with his crafting apron, which is on purpose, as he travels among mortals.
*'''Worship:''' Hagen worship is done passively simply by becoming a more knowledgeable person. Reading books is often good enough as a form of Hagen worship.
*'''Manifestation:''' Hagen like Tove has manifested many times, always paired together, to offer words of meaningful advice (or misadvise in the case of Tove) to their lives.
*'''Individual:''' Hagen's manifestations are usually Static. Tove and Hagen represent a debating duo, where Hagen always insists on dogma and knowledge gotten before.
*'''Worship House:''' Hagen's largest Temple is the House of Stone Healing in Nordskag, which doubles as a massive library with stone debating chambers and reading rooms.
*'''Relations:''' Hagen's relation to Tove is somewhat dubious, sometimes depicted as two sides of the same coin, sometimes he is depicted as her grandfather.
*'''Other Notes:''' Hagen appears different each time, sometimes of passable age, sometimes so decrepitly old that his beard touches the floor and drags behind him.
|}
|}
===Tove, Daughter of Dreams===
===Tove, Daughter of Dreams===
TBD
{|
 
|[[File:Atovilgf.png|220px|thumb|left]]
|
*'''Identity:''' Tove, Daughter of Dreams, was born last of all Gods, and somewhat a mess, as the Tree of Life started dreaming, experienced 1001 random thoughts, and then slept.
*'''Themes:''' Tove's themes are gladness, dreams, happiness, making others happy, challenging dogma, questioning the world, youth and youthfulness and being carefree.
*'''Depictions:''' Tove looks relatively normal in comparison to all the other gods with her unnecessary belts, which is on purpose, as she travels among mortals.
*'''Worship:''' Tove worship takes the form of finding random strangers, and doing something for them to make them happy, or to elicit a smile, or to break some dusty rule.
*'''Manifestation:''' Tove like Hagen has manifested many times, always paired together, to offer words of meaningful advice (or misadvise in the case of Tove) to their lives.
*'''Individual:''' Tove's manifestations are usually chaotic. Hagen and Tove represent a debating duo, where Tove always takes the questioning side with a constant barrage.
*'''Worship House:''' Tove's largest Temple is the House of Stone Caring in Nordskag, next to Hagen's Temple, doubling as a hospital with free healthcare for children.
*'''Relations:''' Tove's relation to Hagen is somewhat dubious, sometimes depicted as two sides of the same coin, sometimes she is depicted as his granddaughter.
*'''Other Notes:''' Tove appears different each time, sometimes as an adult, but more often than not as a recalcitrant teenager, ready to combat Hagen's opinions.
|}
==Trivia==
==Trivia==
{{Religion}}
{{Religion}}
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[[category:Religion]] [[category:Human Religions]]
[[category:Religion]] [[category:Human Religions]]

Revision as of 21:00, 14 August 2022

Fornoss
VelTap.png
Religion
Pronunciation Old-Gods
Origins Old Ceardia
Deities
Too many to list
Subsects
Cellik and Velheim variants

Origins

The origins of the Old Gods Religion are somewhat murky, because of intensely conflicting versions. Old Gods as a religion has always lacked an organized hierarchy, and so local communities as well as diasporas do not agree on a common origin tale. While many Regalians consider Old Gods synonymous with the Velheim Culture, they actually are not, and there are more Ceardians who worship Old Gods under the Cellik variant than there are Velheim Old Gods worshipers. Old Gods reaches beyond these cultures however, with Zvorun, Tarkkin, and Dunbrae all having slight variations on the same ideology. All Old Gods worshipers agree that their faith started on the island of Yervonth (called Jerl in old Velheim) however they all disagree with what happened after. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods however are the two largest denominations controlling around 80% of the total worshiper population, and as such, their version is generally accepted as common dogma. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods doctrine claims that when the menace from the west ([[[Nelfin]] slavers) arrived on the shores of Ceardia, that a group of Pagan Gods created a pantheon together and spirited large communities away from the Ceardian continent, harboring them in safety on the Yervonth island. From here, Old Gods would continue to spread over the world with migration waves, however the further they went, the more their doctrine was changed by local variations and changes. Unlike Unionism, Old Gods never underwent any major cataclysmic changes or schisms. As such, this page will treat the average understanding of Old Gods as fact, though minor local variations like changing a God's name or patron identity is permissible.

Core Identity

Old Gods is a religion that developed out of the old concept of Ailor Paganism in Ceardia, which was a polytheistic religion with a theoretical infinite amount of gods. Old Gods as a religion reformed this principle, attaching itself to the tangible gods that the people could see and interact with, and then centralized religion to them. Old Gods as a religion is centered around the concepts of Honor of the Soul, which is similar to Asaredu, but not strictly bound to combat honor alone, rather to the purity of one's soul as understood through the lens of behavior, actions, and things said. Old Gods worshipers refer to the Honor of the Soul as Soldi. It is actually a common misconception to think that Old Gods worshipers refer to their own religion as Old Gods. This is incorrect, because the term Old Gods was used by Unionists to refer to the faith that was largely replaced in the Archipelago by Unionism. Old Gods is actually referred to as Sjelbyrd by Velheimers or Selbarad by Cellik Old Gods worshipers. Because Ailor kind however has so many varied cultures, and because so few of them still worship the Old Gods, the term Old Gods has simply become commonly used, even by Velheimers when they speak Common.

Tenets

  • Bravery: Soldi is gained with bravery, to fight against foes that overwhelm and overpower, to seek out challenges that bring glory and honor to one's family name, and to generally not show cowardice. Soldi is lost by showing cowardice and shirking from one's duties. One must always accept challenges, even if they could result in death or infamy. One must always commit to one's decisions.
  • Wroth: Soldi is not strictly gained by being mean or violent, but rather by the idea that one should never give up or simply let things happen that one does not want to happen. Inversely, Soldi is lost by simply being meek and weak and letting events transpire without affecting them. One must never shirk from duties, or show weakness when strength and power are demanded by the public eye.
  • Pleasure: The matter of chasteness versus pleasure is not really a matter that demands any Soldi satisfaction. Old Gods worshipers just don't really believe in chastity. That being said, dishonesty and deceit to one's lovers and spouse(s) results in loss of Soldi. One must always remain honest and truthful to those who one spends their life with, and afford them respect as if they are gods themselves.
  • Vengeful: Soldi is gained by settling scores, Soldi is lost by letting a vendetta or nemesis simply walk all over one's self. Old Gods worshipers declare Motsaga against a person to declare them their enemy with scores to settle. The Old Gods worshipers came up with the saying "An eye for an eye". If another person is not strong enough to settle their scores, one can offer to do it for them, for Soldi's sake.
  • Greed: Soldi is not specifically gained or lost while being charitable or greedy, but Old Gods as a religion generally rewards those who attain and retain the power to seize what they want and be merciful with what they have, but shows little favor on those too weak to make their own destiny. Greed over finances is however not encouraged. Old God worshipers should put little value in money, and more in possessions.
  • Honest: Soldi is lost with deceit and lying, though not specifically while withholding information. Old Gods religion has a concept of "white-lies", and only punishes those who tell lies for explicit personal gain or to prevent danger to self (which they must be brave to face). White lies are acceptable if they prevent someone else from losing Soldi, or make everyone happier and easier off in the long run.
  • Pride: Soldi is gained when others are aware of how great a person is, and Soldi is lost if a person is forgettable and irrelevant in the scope of history. Old Gods worshipers should endeavor to make sure their skills and talents are always known to others. One should never have paintings or statues made of one's self however. Artistic vanity is considered taboo, one can only accept such gifts made by others.
  • Respect: A very important aspect of Old Gods worship is the acknowledgement of respect. While one must be proud of one's self, one must always deeply respect the skills of others, and pay homage to those who are simply better (even if they deserve a challenge here and there). One should never ever pretend like even one's enemies have no qualities or respect worthy aspects about them and one must vocalize them without spite.
  • Soldi: The most important aspect of Old Gods is Soldi, which is like a currency of Honor. There is no strict numerical minimum or maximum, but being accused of being without Soldi is the worst insult to levy against an Old Gods worshiper, one that they believe condemns their soul. When someone's Soldi is lost, it is possible for relatives or friends to try and reclaim Soldi for that person by attributing their deeds to them.
  • Loyalty: A very important aspect of Old Gods is loyalty, which can mean loyalty to family, to lovers, to one's overlord, one's ruler, or just the gods. Vows of loyalty are taken very seriously, and breaking one is considered a great way to lose all Soldi instantly. In the Regalian context, this usually means loyalty to the Gods, but also loyalty to one's Duke or Emperor depending on one's position.

Beliefs

  • Narrative: In Old Gods beliefs, the world is one giant proving grounds for all living things (even wild animals) to prove the value of their soul and prevent loss of Soldi until they die. While all living things are born with Soldi, the effects of evil causes them to commit sins. Sins causing a loss of Soldi are a person's soul showing weakness and thus not having the right to pass into the afterlife. Old Gods dictates that while bodies are made by the gods, and Dragons create a kindling of a soul, that ultimately a soul's development, nurturing, and aging, is entirely up to the person themselves. When a person dies and their soul has enough Soldi they pass into the afterlife or the Valley of Life, which is an idealized version of life with drinking, feasting, and fun. When a person who passes into the Valley of Life also has a hero or legendary status soul through some great achievement or fame in life, they go to the Valley of Legends, which is an upgraded version of this afterlife where their every whim is satisfied. In case a soul is deemed without Soldi, they are condemned to the Mirror world, where the soul wanders for eternity on the salt-flats without color, smell or sound as penance. It is said that some souls have such evil in their hears that they escape the Mirror world, and become Undead in the real world. This is why Old Gods worshipers have such a negative view of Undead who were Old Gods worshipers in a prior life, but are apathetic to Undead from other religions.
  • Canon Evil: Canon Evil in Old Gods is called Demons, which takes similar origins as Unionism, but has a more flexible interpretation. On one hand, Old Gods worshipers do acknowledge Demons from the Void, Exist, and Bintaar as evil with corrupting intentions. They refer to them as Betrayers, with one particular Demon called The Great Betrayer being the worst, which scholars believe to be the Arken of Power. Demons seduce people into doing things that ruins their Soldi with promises of power, fame and legend. On the other hand, Old Gods worshipers acknowledge the evil in mortals as a far more realistic source of bad things in life. It is said that the Gods and Dragons made a pact, with the Gods making the bodies of Ailor-kind, and the Dragons providing the breath of life, which would create a seedling of a soul. However, as life develops, the person who the soul belongs to creates the expressions, actions and feelings of the soul themselves as it grows over time, and that evil is simply the person being too weak to hold onto virtues in life and engaging in sin. As such, evil can neatly be defined as either Demons inducing weakness in otherwise strong people, or weakness just existing in a soul because the person themselves are weak.
  • Identity: Old Gods dogma has no explicit gender, sex, sexual orientation or gender-identity bias, though it has an implicit male-bias. While any Old Gods worshiper will claim that all genders and sexes are equally fair in their religion, traditional male-coded masculinity takes a unique place that discolors a lot of the nuance about gender. Strong, masculine and emotionless are framed as virtues for men living by the examples of their gods, and so Old Gods society can come across as publicly egalitarian, but having hidden masculine preferences under the surface.
  • Conversion: Old Gods as a religion does not require preaching or spreading through missionaries, which is usually a practice reserved for Estellon and Unionism, though to say it is without violent impression is false. Among Old Gods worshipers, holy wars can rage between two distinct populations over small denominational ideals (some as ridiculous as the believed hair color of a god), but bigger conflicts arise with other religions. Old Gods worshipers in general are very intolerant to other religions mostly born out of necessity, because disloyalty to the gods (for example by converting from Old Gods to Unionism) means a complete loss of Soldi and thus a soul being condemned to the Mirror world. Old Gods worshipers have been known to force their faith at the end of a sword and axe, especially in the far north where they are in the majority. Old Gods worshipers also frequently deface religious symbols of other faiths or engage in desecration of holy sites.
  • Sins & Taboo: The worst cases of sinning and taboo for Old Gods are disloyalty to god, family and one's leaders, backstabbing, betrayal, deceit for greed's sake, and refusing a challenge of honor or duel of honor and abiding by cowardice. Never does a single sin or transgression cause Soldi to be lost fully, it is more like a currency that slowly leaks away, however repeat offenses do cause eventual loss of Soldi altogether. Old Gods does not really have a central body of priests to condemn a person, but generally speaking, Old Gods communities have a very communal sense of expelling a member when they believe their Soldi to be too far gone.

Gods and Goddesses

Old Gods recognizes one greater entity called Arne, the Tree of Life, from which all Old Gods worshiper believe Ailorkind was born (and by extension, every other living entity on Old Ceardia), though it is somewhat nebulous whether this refers specifically to Old Gods heritage Ailor, or all Ailor of the entire Race. Old Gods doctrine never made any claims on how the world or reality actually started, but implied that other religions are valid (to a degree) because they refer to the "Old World", where-as the world in which Old Gods exists now is the "New World". Simpler put, Old Gods acknowledges other religions and beliefs that pre-date itself as legitimate within their time-frame, but claims that with the birth of Old Gods, those religions or beliefs became invalid for Ailor, and that Old Gods is the only valid truth. This does mean that Old Gods is a mostly Ailor-centric religion. This causes particular conflict with Unionists. While Old Gods believers claim that the Everwatcher probably is real, they consider the faith false, because it induces its followers to engage in actions that cause them to lose Soldi and be condemned to the Mirror World. Arne supposedly stood in Old Ceardia for many centuries, until he communed with Dragons (who are not considered divine, rather just really powerful entities of legend), and developed a voice. With his voice, he spoke to fauna and flora, and with them approaching his roots, his mind expanded. With expansion came his desire to create his own life, and so with each new animal or event around Arne that he became aware of, a new god or goddess was born, creating the traditional pantheon by willing them into existence, which in turn caused them to create the Ailor Race. Arne is not worshiped however, because while he is the Tree of Life, he is seen more as a means to an end, and when all the Gods were born, he went into a lifeless slumber that created the afterlife in his dreams, the Gods and Goddesses instead are worshiped. Arne's physical body is believed to have perished with the Destruction of Ceardia, however this didn't spell disaster, as it is believed that his spirit and dreams (and thus the afterlife) live on even without his physical form.

Bev, Mirror of Life

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  • Identity: Bev, the third son of Arne, was born when a mother deer and her children died beneath the Tree of Life, confronting it with the necessity of death.
  • Themes: Bev’s themes are the afterlife, measure of the soul, solitude, serenity, mourning, and the dead. He is also invoked during burials, and when communing with the dead.
  • Depictions: Bev is depicted as a shrouded figure in a large funeral cloth, with only his pale white hands showing of his body, and always holding the Mirror face out.
  • Worship: Bev is worshiped specifically by the Staargir, blind-folded singers of the dead, but also by offering food and candles to Bev shrines in Helbolwen.
  • Manifestation: Bev does not manifest in the living world, only serving to hold the Mirrror and pass souls into the afterlife, which he must do without fail and reprieve.
  • Individual: Bev does not manifest to individuals or groups at all, as he is only ‘met’ when someone’s soul is passing on for judgement. He is rumored to have made the Vaarda Gates however.
  • Worship House: Bev is worshipped in Old Gods Crypts, or Helbolwen, where a statue in his likeness with a mirror is kept. These mirrors reflect hundreds of lit candles, to represent the dead.
  • Relations: Bev is the husband of Hel, doomed to never embrace, as he cannot leave the water, and she cannot enter it. He is also tasked to hold up the Mirror, which Hel would destroy.
  • Other Notes: It is believed that if Bev should ever drop the Mirror, it will shatter, and release the Soldi-less dead who reside within it, causing a terrible undead cataclysm to occur.

Hel, Dancer of Death

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  • Identity: Hel is the first daughter of Arne, who was born when the river flooded the Tree of Life and touched its bark, thus familiarizing it with large amounts of water.
  • Themes: Hel’s themes are water, the ocean, protection from the waves, misery, unrequited love, and abandonment. She is intensely linked with Bev due to their relation.
  • Depictions: Hel is a lithe woman with many tattoos and a body or dress made of the torrential waves. Her anguish and loneliness cause her to be cruel and whimsical.
  • Worship: Hel is worshiped only by those who go off to sea, or know someone who is going off to sea, praying for their safe travel and return by dancing and offering her company and song.
  • Manifestation: It is believed that every great typhoon, hurricane, tsunami, and waterspout, is Hel's manifestation, and that each of them are her physical presence.
  • Individual: Hel has not touched anyone individually per se, rather she has supposedly caused the deaths of thousands of sailors, dragged to an early grave under the ocean.
  • Worship House: Hel’s shrines are built on cliff sides near oceans, her cult is called the Sea-Dancers, water mages who ‘dance’ with their magic on ships to protect them from her wrath.
  • Relations: Hel is the wife of Bev, but she cannot touch or be with him, as he resides below the ocean, and she can only dance on the surface of it: the source of her anguish.
  • Other Notes: Hel is considered the goddess who takes lives, and knows when all Old Gods worshippers will die. This is mostly why Hel is feared rather than admired.

Adal, Prince of Forgiving

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  • Identity: Adal is the son of Bard, who was born when Bard’s anger caused a thunderstorm that cut two branches off the Tree of Life, familiarizing it with pain.
  • Themes: Adal’s themes are giving aid and help, enforcement of laws, conceding, forgiveness, holding no grudges, and also of the lightning and thunder of the world.
  • Depictions: Adal is usually depicted as a male with glowing golden tattoos and dismembered arms, the tips covered in gold, and replaced with lightning.
  • Worship: Adal is not worshiped on a day to day basis, but by Pilgrims who wish to forgive someone, but cannot find the strength to do so, traveling to his Temple.
  • Manifestation: It is believed that every thunder strike is an expression of approval by Adal, which is why Old Gods worshipers sometimes ask things of Thunderstorms.
  • Individual: Adal is not known to have made a personal presentation in front of anyone, because his manifestations are mostly in the elemental realm.
  • Worship House: Adal’s shrines are built high atop mountains, where lightning may strike them, and where bottles of Celectic gas store electricity in visible form.
  • Relations: Adal is the twin brother of Odal, who he feels responsible for, eternally on a quest to convince Odal to return to the pantheon, but eternally failing.
  • Other Notes: It is said Adal’s arms were cut off by Bard, who had gone into a rage, though this is dubious, because many also claim he was born without arms.

Odal, Prince of Vengeance

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  • Identity: Odal is the son of Bard, born when Bard’s anger caused a thunderstorm that cut branches off of the Tree of Life, crushed a family of hedgehogs below.
  • Themes: Odal’s themes are revenge, overcoming, conquest, magic, corruption, and the indomitable spirit. Odal is sometimes considered good, sometimes evil.
  • Depictions: Odal is a corrupted god, in allegiance to the Great Betrayer (who corrupted him), he still acts in favor of the Old Gods worshippers who align with him.
  • Worship: Odal worship is offering him food and goods in a ritual fire to stave off his vengeance. Odal’s Avengers is a cult of for-hire revenge seekers, called Odalv.
  • Manifestation: Odal has been known to personally manifest, particularly to protect the respect and honor of the Great Betrayer, when Old Gods worshipers defile him.
  • Individual: Odal has countless of individual encounters with Old Gods worshipers, instilling a fear in them not to speak of the Great Betrayer in bad ways.
  • Worship House: Odal has lingering shrines decorated with blue-painted horns, but only because people are afraid he’d destroy them if they destroyed his shrines.
  • Relations: Odal is the twin brother of Adal, and is constantly fighting Bard to force his way back into the pantheon, It is said only he can challenge Bard.
  • Other Notes: It is not known how Odal became corrupted, but is thought to be because of his anger at the inaction of the Old Gods, letting the Great Betrayer do it.
  • Other Notes: Rarely, will Olds Gods' worshippers feel pushed enough to accept his ‘blessing,’ and become a demonically possessed avatar of vengeance, called Odalv.
  • Other Notes: If they succeed their Odalv Quest, their Soldi is cleansed and they are restored, if they fail, he kills them and they are sent to the Mirror world.

Bard, King of Bears

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  • Identity: Bard is the first son of Arne, and was born when bears rested under the Tree of Life. Bard is considered pivotal in the Pantheon due to his relations.
  • Themes: Bard’s themes are battle, rage, strength, endurance, stability, power, solitude, and being the ‘guardian of the gods.’ He is said to be strongest of all.
  • Depictions: Bard is always depicted as a large rugged man, covered in animal pelts, with charcoal around his eyes emulating bear claws and broad stance.
  • Worship: Bard is worshiped before, after, and sometimes during battle. His cult, Bard’s Bears, was partially eradicated in the Carrhen War by the Regalian Empire.
  • Manifestation: Bard has been known to manifest as a giant in front of those who committed high treason to the Old Gods, cursing them with the Marken Affliction.
  • Individual: Bard exclusively visits individuals, but only on rare occasions, because one knows they have really messed up if it requires Bard to show up.
  • Worship House: Bard’s shrines are large stone steles with inscriptions and bones, or stone tables with bowls on them. Animal carcasses are offered as sacrifice.
  • Relations: Bard is the husband of Njal, but was originally a loner. His temperament was soothed by Njal, who found him, calmed him, and they became spouses.
  • Other Notes: Despite Bard's Bears being eradicated in Carrhen, a small branch of them is yet alive in Talahm Gall, a rugged province of Gallovia.
  • Other Notes: Bard’s fits of rage are legendary, and uncontrollable, losing all semblance of humanity during them, except for Njal's artistic touch.

Njal, Prince of Art

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  • Identity: Njal is the second son of Arne, and was born when birds sang perched on the branches of the Tree of Life, seeing beauty for the first time.
  • Themes: Njal’s themes are creativity, art, fertility, compromise, male beauty, silver tongue, and protection from godly cruelty and care for mortals.
  • Depictions: Njal is a handsome young man wearing expensive clothes, with an air of arrogance and calmness in his demeanor and stance.
  • Worship: Worship is done by saying a prayer, and then giving gifts to any artist. His cult is Njal’s Harps, who host debauched feasts and parties.
  • Manifestation: Njal is said to permanently dwell among mortals, because creativity is a gift of the people, not of Gods, and he wishes to see art.
  • Individual: Njal's has not been seen for thousands of years, though was very active before this point, no one knows exactly why.
  • Worship House: Njal’s shrines are always mobile, in carts or on harnesses so people can carry them, as Njal never sits still and roams the land.
  • Relations: Njal once roamed to find the perfect art. Then he met bard, and realized the perfect art was man. They soon fell in love and married.
  • Other Notes: Njal always has heterochromia, one light blue eye and one light brown, which he uses to always watch Bard, who has dark brown eyes.

Gro, Shaper of Flesh

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  • Identity: Gro is the last daughter of Arne, and was born when Dragons spoke of the Nelfin, and the Tree of Life dreamt of flesh.
  • Themes: Gro’s themes are largely lost, but she supposedly begged the Dragons to breathe life into the her meat dolls, creating the Ailor.
  • Depictions: Gro's depiction has mostly been lost to time, but it is assumed she was an amalgam of blood and flesh.
  • Worship: Gro is considered a lost god, but when she was worshipped, she played an active role in the lives of Ailor, which other Old Gods did not and did not allow.
  • Manifestation: Gro supposedly helped mortals with even simple day to day tasks, making their lives easier and more comfortable, this was her hubris.
  • Individual: Gro has not been seen since she was expelled from the Pantheon thousands of years ago, and nobody has really gone looking for her either.
  • Worship House: Gro has no known worship houses, though the concept of Gro shrines has been debated as of recent due to finding Sunnan Velheim worshiping her.
  • Relations: Gro is the wife of Jord, both bargained with the Great Betrayer (which they were expelled for), forcing the Velheim people in millennia of hell, but saving them from slavery.
  • Other Notes: The memory of Gro and Jord is said to have faded when the Old Gods worshippers broke free from the Great Betrayer, called the 'Liberation'.

Jord, Forger of Metal

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  • Identity: Jord is the last son of Arne, and was born when the roots of the Tree of Life touched metal ores in the ground, which it could not crush or bend.
  • Themes: Jord is no longer worshiped as he is considered a lost god for dealing with the Great Betrayer. Only small groups still worship him.
  • Depictions: Jord is depicted as a male with a body made of metal, bent and straightened around his body, and long arms with ball joints, made of dark blue metal.
  • Worship: Jord is no longer worshiped, when he was, he played an active role in the lives of Ailor, which other Old Gods did not and did not allow.
  • Manifestation: Jord supposedly helped mortals with even simple day to day tasks, making their lives easier and more comfortable, this was his hubris.
  • Individual: Jord has not been seen since he was expelled from the Pantheon thousands of years ago, and nobody has really gone looking for him either.
  • Worship House: Jord has no worship houses, but was last rumored to be seen on the isle of Barratt, which is surrounded by a terrible maelstrom.
  • Relations: Jord is the husband of Gro, both bargained with the Great Betrayer, forcing the Velheim people in millennia of hell, but saving them from slavery.
  • Other Notes: The memory of Jord and Gro is said to have faded when the Old Gods worshippers broke free from the Great Betrayer, called the 'Liberation'.

Halfvel, the Father of Demigods

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  • Identity: Halfvel, nicknamed the Father of Demigod and Wolf-God, was born when the mortal Berrin fell in love with Bard, King of Bears, because some part of Arn wanted Demigods to exist.
  • Themes: Halfvel does not represent any themes, but rather is the sole source of Demigodhood, blessing pregnant mothers with the Godspark, which can either be Mundane or Magic.
  • Depictions: Halfvel is always depicted with his Cloth of Godliness, in which it is said all Demigod children are born or laid to be found in the forest surrounded by Wolves.
  • Worship: Halfvel is worshiped by traveling the world, seeking out his children, and aiding them on the path of their divine purpose, whether they are Magical or Mundane.
  • Manifestation: Halfvel is often said to appear before mothers who pray intensely for purpose for their children, but is also said to disguise himself as a Wolf-man and birth Demigods among mortals.
  • Individual: There was once a Temple in Old Ceardia which supposedly housed Halfvel nearly all year round, however this place has not been visited since the destruction of Ceardia.
  • Worship House: Halfvel does not have any official Temples, however shrines dedicated to him are a wolf skull rested on several black wolf pelts, coins of gold inserted into its mouth for well wishes.
  • Relations: Halfvel has no formal relations with the Pantheon, as he largely avoids them altogether, concerning himself more with creating the fates in the mortal world.
  • Other Notes: Halfvel's Demigod children supposedly have icy-blue eye-color, a high rarity among Ailor. Halfvel turns an unborn child or conceives each Demigod for a specific fate, some bad, some good.

Asbjørn, the Punished Winter

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  • Identity: Asbjørn, nicknamed the Punished Winter, (prior Berrin, a mortal) was made God when he committed a crime by falling in love with Bard, God of Bears, forced to bear a curse.
  • Themes: Asbjørn's themes are punishment, service, restitution, Winter, seeking forgiveness, and taking responsibilities for one's crimes and wrongdoings in the eyes of society.
  • Depictions: Asbjørn is always depicted as a white bear, usually in chains, but often also in a resting pose. There is always a dubiousness to him, as if his godhood may not be a curse.
  • Worship: Asbjørn isn't strictly worshiped, but rather invoked when someone should submit themselves to punishment to make up for their wrongdoings, and he gives them strength to bear it.
  • Manifestation: Asbjørn has occasionally appeared, when a prisoner collapses under their punishment, or someone who is seeking forgiveness is about to give up, giving them strength once more.
  • Individual: Asbjørn only ever helps individuals, but he seems quite jovial for someone who is being cursed, some speculate that he is actually quite devious, and was cursed on purpose.
  • Worship House: Asbjørn's largest and most important Temple is the Ice-Crag Hall in Hedryll, a temple where docile polar bears roam, though it has recently fallen in disrepair by Vampires.
  • Relations: Asbjørn is said to be madly cursed and in love with Bard, but this has been pulled into question recently because none of the other folklore supports this sentiment.
  • Other Notes: Asbjørn is sometimes somewhat dubiously treated because it unclear if he genuinely wants to help those seeking restitution through punishment, or is just using them to get to Bard.

Frode, Carer of Spring

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  • Identity: Frode, nicknamed Carer of Spring, was born when the early dew of spring first slipped down the leaves of the Tree of Life, creating the seasonal change in Old Ceardia.
  • Themes: Frode's themes are Spring, rebirth, sweetness, insects and plants, flowers, sweet smells and cold colors, the sounds of life, and teeming flora in the forests.
  • Depictions: Frode is always depicted as if gliding on the green light of nature in spring, anytime they touch grass, causing the most wildest of floral arrangements to bloom.
  • Worship: Worship to Frode is done near or around a Tree, woven and decorated to mimic the Tree of Life, usually in a park, and by engaging in social happenings around that tree.
  • Manifestation: Frode has manifested a couple of times through history to save important groves of the Old Gods people, but in general seems more skittish than the other Gods.
  • Individual: Frode is said to hate being regarded, and as such, most encounters were supposedly more of their smell (a distinct cut-grass and honey mix) than their actual face.
  • Worship House: Frode has no real worship house, but Old Gods worshipers often build Frode circles in the forest, which are patches of grass with stones arranged in circles.
  • Relations: Frode is the twin sibling of Toke, and the two are said to dance in the forests, cycling between Spring and Autumn, until Leif burns in Summer and Asbjørn freezes in winter.
  • Other Notes: Frode is why Old Gods worshipers have a positive relation to Yanar, and can often connect quite well with the Estellon worshipers in Yanar inhabited regions in Regalia.

Toke, Lirh of Autumn

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  • Identity: Toke, nicknamed Lirh of Autumn, was born when the leaves on the Tree of Life faded to red and brown, creating the seasonal autumn that swept Old Ceardia.
  • Themes: Toke's themes are Autumn, the world slowing down, taking care of yourself and loved ones, caring for one's own mental health, warm colors, and fauna itself.
  • Depictions: Toke is always depicted as if dancing, reminiscing a leaf falling from an autumnal tree, conspicuous feline ears in their hair and a mischievous smile.
  • Worship: Toke Worship is done by hosting seasonal feasts, particularly those in which Old Gods worshipers dress up as animals and try to prank and trick each other.
  • Manifestation: Toke's manifestations were often to protect wildlife from extinction, miraculously saving a few viable pairs in a valley to protect them.
  • Individual: Toke has not ever been known to enjoy being regarded by mortals. As such, their ears or fox-tail is seen more often than Toke themselves fully.
  • Worship House: Toke has no real Temples or shrines, but supposedly lives together with Frode in the Frode circles in the forest, as animals are eventually drawn to them.
  • Relations: Toke is the twin sibling of Frode, and the two are said to dance in the forests, cycling between Spring and Autumn, until Leif burns in Summer and Asbjørn freezes in winter.
  • Other Notes: Toke is why, even when killing wildlife for the hunt or sacrifice, Old Gods are always respectful, and will say a prayer for Toke to receive the animal's soul.

Leif, Summer of Passion

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  • Identity: Leif, Summer of Passion, was born when the Tree of Life first experienced the love between Bard and Njall, and a fire erupted on some of its branches.
  • Themes: Leif's themes are passion, fire, burning feelings, expressions of love and willpower, never giving up, divine inspiration, and offspring specifically.
  • Depictions: Leif is always depicted with some part of his hair on fire or spitting flames, his hands covered in glowing golden light for the wealth he brings.
  • Worship: Worship to Leif is performed by bringing offerings of rare earth metals to open flames, and dancing with or inhaling the smoke.
  • Manifestation: Leif has not known to manifest himself, though it is said that a part of him lives in each and every flame, and that he always listens.
  • Individual: Leif's individual relation to mortals, is that he supposedly inspires and enflames their emotions, with love itself being inspired and fated by him.
  • Worship House: Leif's largest Temple is the flame-spire in Billund, Regalian Archipelago, a large and steep peak mountain which near permanently fumes smoke.
  • Relations: Leif is the husband of Estrid, though they are more than that, the folklore specifically defines them as soul mates with a fated connection.
  • Other Notes: Leif is claimed to have a particular burning hatred for those who discriminate based on gender, supposedly spontaneously immolating terrible offenders.

Estrid, Queen of War

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  • Identity: Estrid, Queen of War, was born when the Tree of Life's branches caught fire in Leif's birth, which she then doused by absorbing them and funneling them to war.
  • Themes: Estrid's themes are similar to Bard's but differ slightly in that she specifically concerns herself with War, conquest of other lands, ferocity and challenge.
  • Depictions: Estrid is always depicted in her typical "Gothik" style, dark hair and intense darkened eyes, dark clothing and pale skin, with lots of accessories.
  • Worship: Estrid worship is usually performed before armies face each other on the field, known as the 'high hour', 3 hours before the battle, when Old Gods armies are weakest.
  • Manifestation: Estrid has appeared at every major pivotal battle the Old Gods worshipers had to face in their expansion, but stopped appearing one day, for no-one knows why.
  • Individual: Estrid never had any individual appeal, rather keeping expansion for the Velheim people, and by extension, Old Gods open, until she ceased.
  • Worship House: Estrid has the most amount of Temples across the world, each of them called a Temple of Fire, in which a massive bonfire is lit around the clock.
  • Relations: Estrid is the wife of Leif, though they are more than that, the folklore specifically defines them as soul mates with a fated connection.
  • Other Notes: Estrid is sometimes blamed for the reversal of Velheim expansion in the world, coinciding with the quick rise of the Regalian Empire.

Hagen, Crafter of Time

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  • Identity: Hagen, Crafter of Time, was born when the Tree of Life remembered history and all events that had gone before, creating wisdom and knowledge for the ages.
  • Themes: Hagen's themes are wisdom, sagely advise, dogma, staying true to rules and laws, obeying precedence and the elderly, and ancestry and heritage.
  • Depictions: Hagen looks relatively normal in comparison to all the other gods with his crafting apron, which is on purpose, as he travels among mortals.
  • Worship: Hagen worship is done passively simply by becoming a more knowledgeable person. Reading books is often good enough as a form of Hagen worship.
  • Manifestation: Hagen like Tove has manifested many times, always paired together, to offer words of meaningful advice (or misadvise in the case of Tove) to their lives.
  • Individual: Hagen's manifestations are usually Static. Tove and Hagen represent a debating duo, where Hagen always insists on dogma and knowledge gotten before.
  • Worship House: Hagen's largest Temple is the House of Stone Healing in Nordskag, which doubles as a massive library with stone debating chambers and reading rooms.
  • Relations: Hagen's relation to Tove is somewhat dubious, sometimes depicted as two sides of the same coin, sometimes he is depicted as her grandfather.
  • Other Notes: Hagen appears different each time, sometimes of passable age, sometimes so decrepitly old that his beard touches the floor and drags behind him.

Tove, Daughter of Dreams

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  • Identity: Tove, Daughter of Dreams, was born last of all Gods, and somewhat a mess, as the Tree of Life started dreaming, experienced 1001 random thoughts, and then slept.
  • Themes: Tove's themes are gladness, dreams, happiness, making others happy, challenging dogma, questioning the world, youth and youthfulness and being carefree.
  • Depictions: Tove looks relatively normal in comparison to all the other gods with her unnecessary belts, which is on purpose, as she travels among mortals.
  • Worship: Tove worship takes the form of finding random strangers, and doing something for them to make them happy, or to elicit a smile, or to break some dusty rule.
  • Manifestation: Tove like Hagen has manifested many times, always paired together, to offer words of meaningful advice (or misadvise in the case of Tove) to their lives.
  • Individual: Tove's manifestations are usually chaotic. Hagen and Tove represent a debating duo, where Tove always takes the questioning side with a constant barrage.
  • Worship House: Tove's largest Temple is the House of Stone Caring in Nordskag, next to Hagen's Temple, doubling as a hospital with free healthcare for children.
  • Relations: Tove's relation to Hagen is somewhat dubious, sometimes depicted as two sides of the same coin, sometimes she is depicted as his granddaughter.
  • Other Notes: Tove appears different each time, sometimes as an adult, but more often than not as a recalcitrant teenager, ready to combat Hagen's opinions.

Trivia


Accreditation
Writers MonMarty
Processors FireFan96
Last Editor Birdsfoot violet on 08/14/2022.

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